Following a dominant first round performance against Christian County, Owensboro finds themselves back at Rash Stadium this week for their second-round matchup with Greenwood on Friday.
The Red Devils are coming off of a 56-14 win over the Colonels to kick off the postseason, in which they were clicking on both cylinders. Senior linebacker Jeremiah Goodwin led the way defensively, pressuring the quarterback all night long and grabbing a couple sacks in the progress.
He’ll be instrumental in what Owensboro needs to accomplish defensively, as Head Coach Jay Fallin and company knows they have a lot to handle in do-it-all Gators senior Lofton Howard.
“Greenwood is a very solid, tough, disciplined high school football team,” Fallin said. “Coach Howard and his staff do a great job of getting the very best out of their kids every week. They are led by senior Lofton Howard, who does a little bit of everything- outside linebacker, tight end/wide receiver and even QB in a ‘wildcat’ package for short yardage.”
The Red Devils will also have to contain his counterpart Tel Tel Long in the backfield, as the junior running back is coming off of a game against Grayson County where he put up 69 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
“Along with Howard is senior Tel Tel Long (#9), who is a very good running back,” Fallin said. “They are really good across the board on the o-line and d-line. They are a run heavy team but will pick their spots on play action passes and RPOs and have had lots of success.”
Offensively Owensboro will look to shore up a few things from last week, despite having a respectable performance. Senior quarterback Kasey Boone threw for three touchdowns and 154 yards on 12-20 passing, while also throwing a pair of interceptions.
Meanwhile it was sophomore Deion Winstead who shined out of the backfield with a strong game in Kenyatta Carbon’s absence, running for 166 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries. Along with limiting unforced errors the Red Devils will look to get either of the previously mentioned running backs going in order to come out on top.
“We cannot turn the ball over and have penalties in key situations,” Fallin said. “Pre-snap communication and getting lined up right, execution of our assignments, and controlling what we can control and playing hard for 48 minutes.”
Fallin and Owensboro’s expectations remain the same as they have all season long, looking for mental and physical toughness in all three facets of the game. As long as they execute the gameplan, make necessary adjustments on the fly and fight every down, Fallin thinks that they can extend their postseason another week.
“It is a second round playoff game,” Fallin said. “From this point forward, none of the games are easy and we will have to be prepared to play our best for 48 minutes against a great team on Friday.”
